THE INFLUENCE OF FOOD UPON MILK. 13 
At the close of the first feeding period, clear wheat 
bran was substituted for oat chop ; this was, as stated,. 
dear bran , specially ordered for this experiment, contain¬ 
ing no shorts. All may not know that the so-called bran 
received from the mills contains all the shorts produced, 
run together from the mill into the bran bin. This is 
what the farmer gets when he buys bran. The clear 
bran costs us at Fort Collins $14.00 per ton ; oats was 
worth $20.00. 
From daily analyses and close observation, we ascer¬ 
tain it to be a fact that a longer time is necessary for 
securing an even yield of butter fat from some cows than 
others. While with some the per cent, may be influenced 
by a change in the ration in forty-eight hours, and such 
cows become regular in that length of time, with others 
we find the per cent, influenced, for better or worse, 
according to the quality of the ration, and grow regular 
in sixty-four to seventy-two hours, and still others 
(exceptions), requiring even more time. As should be 
expected, this is governed to a great extent by the appe¬ 
tite of the cow. Those animals that might be termed 
good feeders, and that will eat one ration with about the 
same relish as another, exhibit in the quality of the 
milk the results of a change in feed sooner, and in every 
case under our observation, a steadier flow, with more 
uniform per cent, of butter fat. Naturally, then, we 
would expect, and do find, that the shy or dainty feeder 
shows a greater variation in both quantity and quality. 
We have consulted men of experience in the feeding 
of dairy stock, and several eminent experimenters located 
in other stations, and we are informed that while a longer 
period is usually taken for each ration, yet with care it is 
not absolutely necessary. The results of these experi¬ 
ments give indorsement to these statements, and while 
we would not recommend less than ten days for a feeding 
period, we believe that quite sufficient. 
